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From Lizzy’s shelf: Leviathan

From+Lizzys+shelf%3A+Leviathan

leviathan coverScott Westerfeld’s Leviathan is a very unusual young adult novel, and very different from other books I’ve reviewed. Set in a reimagined 1914 Europe, this steampunk novel follows two very different teenagers through a war; one the son of murdered Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand and the other a girl dressed as a boy in order to serve in the British air force. On a giant floating whale-creature.

Steampunk is a relatively new idea and genre of literature that starts with history, adds some crazy, futuristic technology and some hybridized creatures, and sees what happens with those elements added together. The background of the novel is that countries dependent on machinery (“Clankers”) fight one side of World War I against other countries dependent on genetic manipulation of animals (“Darwinists”). Leviathan follows Alek and Deryn/Dylan across countries and through the war as they try to understand their places in the world and deal with the other’s technology when the two must be combined in an unhappy marriage after a crash in the Alps.

Leviathan was the first piece of steampunk literature that I have read, and I found myself intrigued by the tweaks in history and enjoying the addition of science fiction elements. I also looked past the innate weirdness of steampunk to enjoy the exciting stories and the writing style. I recommend Leviathan to all kinds—people who like history, people who like technology or hybrid animals, people who like reading, and people who think they might like to start reading.

 

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